I'm in the process of switching over from Amazon to Direct to Digital as a self-publishing service for my upcoming "Sojourn" books, and I was just wondering if anyone else here has had a positive experience with Direct to Digital or any other self-publishing service besides Amazon before I dive in. Specifically, do I need any kind of licensing agreement with Direct to Digital to make royalties from sales with them? Any advice would be appreciated.
On Writing : Question for all the self-published authors here. by Steven Gamella
Question for all the self-published authors here.
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I am not familiar with this but I hope you keep us posted on what happens with publishing with them.
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Hmmm, never heard of it.
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Jeff E. Gregory thank you! That's what I meant.
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I, too, haven't used Draft2Digital, Steven Gamella, but I'm interested in what others have to say about them.
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I only use Amazon. These are good options to look into.
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I started out using LuLu.com, it worked fine and I did well with it. They made some changes to the process that made it more difficult to use my own covers I had created so then I published with Amazon. My books are available on many platforms but I have found where a 3rd party seller is selling one of my books for like 40 something dollars on Walmart.com. So I didn't realize before hand that people could adapt the price like that. Most of the money I made was from selling my books directly myself. The ones purchased online I didn't receive much money for after the publisher takes their cut.
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Have to agree with Ryan Quinn - I started with Lulu. Were great at first but then they changed things and just making minor changes to the manuscript or cover were horrendously complicated - so much so I never bothered. I publish through Amazon and Draft2Digital for most of my work now. D2D gets it into eBook form for online shops and distributors including Apple, Nook, B&N etc. Though I also now sell my eBooks and Paperbacks direct through my own website. That way I keep more profit. www.davidegates.com
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Aside from Amazon, I use Draft2Digital as others have mentioned. Another one that doesn't get enough recognition (I think) is Ingram Spark. All three are easy to work with.
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Yes, there's Draft2Digital, Ingram Spark, and then I believe Book Baby also does this, though I've not used them personally. Draft2Digital's system will walk you through getting everything set up so you can earn royalties, similar to KDP.
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I've used different services for my print and ebooks. The more I'm learning, the more I want to try out multiple strategies. So, for my first self-published ebook I've started with being on KDP select but after a few months I'm going to pull out and go wide (including Draft2Digital as others have already mentioned). For print, I've created my book on the Reedsy formatted (highly recommended- clear and easy to use and FREE!) and printed with British based company Bookvault (cheapest for author copies and great customer service) and with Ingram Sparks (great for more.visibility with bookstores and for selling internationally). I've still not done amazingly with sales yet, but I'm pleased with the start and it's so much better than hybrid in that its easy to discount your own books, change your book.cover and blurb whenever you want and maintain control over your finances).
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I us IngramSpark to publish both books and digital formats. https://www.ingramspark.com/
Amazon and it book sellers rob us authors bilind! My books list for $19.95 and $24.95. My cost for printing on demand runs $6 to $10 roughly. Amazon sell my third book listed at $19.95 for $4.97. I actually lose money on the sale1
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Thanks for the helpful comments. I've had four books for content creators published by Michael Wiese Productions which is a great company that specializes in the media industry. One co-authored children's book was done by Book Baby but the other author handled everything so I'm not sure how that went. And a couple of our own we did through Amazon. However, we're looking for a non-Amazon way to go next and will certainly check out some of the ones you all mentioned. Good luck to everyone with getting your creative projects out to a wide and appreciative audience!
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My understanding, Marian Betts, about Amazon is that you are paid royalties on the price you set not the price Amazon sets. They often times will lower the price for various reasons, basically to move more product, but royalties are based on the price set by the author. At least this is how it works for my titles.
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Are you sure it's not Draft2Digital? If so I use then for my ebooks. They have a great and simple setup process and fantastic distribution. For print, I use KDP and Ingram because each have different distribution avenues. I hope to expand my print books through other services so that they are offered far and wide.
I use a local printer for those books I sell myself at craft shows, Christmas markets, and elsewhere.
Hope this helps.